>It's true that over the last 30 years, the government has gotten much more conservative about bringing prosecutions. I'm not sure that this is actually true.

>It's true that over the last 30 years, the government has gotten much more conservative about bringing prosecutions. I'm not sure that this is actually true. Instead, I see a much greater use of plea bargains, especially of the "accept this deal or we will throw every possible charge at you" type. Given the sheer number of laws, this can lead to life-ending penalties for seemingly minor crimes.